The Mystery–Part 1

Ever since I’ve returned to America, there has been one great, persisting mystery which I’ve striven to solve. This mystery, I believed, would be essential to my future survival and success in life. Though this mystery could never be completely solved, especially by someone starting to study it as late as I was, it was definitely worth the struggle to understand, for every stone turned is worth a mountain of gold. And the place where I finally began to gain some semblance of comprehending this mystery was at Northland International University, where answers were presented exactly as I needed them. I’m not sure if I could learn about this mystery just as well elsewhere during that time of my life.

What is this gargantuan, insurmountable mystery? People.

As a missionary kid, I didn’t have many peers. There were other missionary kids, but they were either a different age group or (most often) too far away. My parents, of course, tried to teach me Japanese—had I known this tongue, I could befriend some of the neighborhood kids. But I was a stubborn child, and one cannot be taught when he has no desire to learn.

Every return to America, the people were different. In second grade, nobody cares if you don’t understand people—all your peers don’t have an advanced understanding of society. In seventh grade, though, they understand far more than before, though they dangerously think their knowledge and actions are perfect. In their minds, all who cannot come to their level are to be condemned. In twelfth grade, your peers’ minds are far more mature. These people will cooperate with you even though they know you are different. They understand that your social deprivation has led to oddities that set you apart, but to degrade you for this would be cruel. Often, peer pressure is given a bad image, but there is a forgotten positive side to peer pressure where the child learns the way of his culture and does not remain ignorant, awkward, and incapable. And so, this was my life before Northland.